


we can pretend we're normal people

by locrianrose



Series: Fire Emblem Fluff Bingo [5]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Body insecurity, F/M, Fire Emblem Fluff Bingo, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Nudity, Soft Hubert von Vestra, Touch-Starved, Touching, implied past spousal abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-12 07:00:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28756257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/locrianrose/pseuds/locrianrose
Summary: His hands were gentle, and after a moment of exploration, he spoke.“You wanted to touch me.”“I want to know all of you.” Byleth said simply.Byleth and Hubert learn how to make things work.
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth/Hubert von Vestra
Series: Fire Emblem Fluff Bingo [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2024311
Comments: 2
Kudos: 63





	we can pretend we're normal people

One of the things that Byleth has noticed about Hubert is how differently he reacts to being touched than she does. Whenever she brushed her arm across his, reaching for ink or a pen, he twitched as if he’d been hit by electricity. Every touch he received, no matter how accidental, seemed to hit him with the force of an attack. She’d seen him verbally lash out at Caspar when the other tried to help him up after a fight, forcing himself to stand alone.

Hubert didn’t seem to like being touched. Byleth could respect that. She’d grown more accustomed to being touched as the war had progressed, but prior to her coming to Garreg Mach, it had been a largely unfamiliar sensation. She’d been hugged by her father or touched by healers before when injured, but nothing had prepared her for students like Dorothea and Mercedes. Mercedes had been gentle and comforting when healing, stroking Byleth’s hair after one particularly nasty injury when she’d been laid up after battle for nearly a week. Dorothea was always hanging on Byleth— and anyone who would let her— and genuinely enjoying every moment of contact.

Dorothea had even started to drape herself over Edelgard between meetings, something that Byleth had been surprised to see and even more surprised when Edelgard hadn’t stopped her. It was nice to see Edelgard happy and Dorothea seemed a little bit brighter when she was around Edelgard. Byleth knew Dorothea hadn’t ever taken well to fighting, and if Edelgard also wanted to keep Dorothea protected and out of the fighting, that would only serve to better protect Dorothea.

Hubert had never let Dorothea hang off him. This hadn’t surprised Byleth, but now, as she grew closer to him in words, she wasn’t completely sure how to progress physically.

She’d given him her mother’s ring in a moment that had felt—right, but Byleth wasn’t sure how to go from there. Her father had told her how things might go and warned her profusely many years ago, but Byleth was beginning to wonder if Hubert knew anything more than she did. He didn’t seem the type who would have a casual thing with someone, as stiff as he was, and while there had been one or two encounters that Byleth had prior to coming to Garreg Mach, she was nearly as unprepared.

Either way, she would need to speak with Hubert about it if they were to be married, but Byleth was undecided as to how to start, so here she lurked, waiting outside of his rooms in the Enbarr Palace. It had been a long day, and Byleth had managed to make it back before Hubert.

Not that it was hard. Hubert tended to work long hours, staying up beyond Edelgard in his efforts to complete his work.

Byleth eyed a chair down the hall in an alcove she knew of, making her way down to it and hefting it, making her way back towards Hubert’s door and settling it down to the side, sitting down in it. She was weaker now than she’d ever admit, and a beating heart came with some flaws that she’d never had before. She tired easier, and it was harder to keep up her stamina, and now, after a long day, she was more than ready to sit.

She settled carefully in the chair, picking at a hole in her tights. They’d been patched far too much that at this point she’d be better off trading them for something else, more held together with her additional stitching and patches than any of the original material.

There was so much she’d lost, and she was attached to the battered and nigh ruined clothing she’d started it all out with. She knew how to repair her own clothes when they tore and had for some time, but now she could afford to buy new things if she wanted to, but there was too much that she remembered of what had happened in these that she was afraid to let go of.

Her father had been so surprised when she’d first picked out her own clothes, the fancy fabrics and shiny textures catching her attention for the first time in what must have been her late teens, and from there out, he’d encouraged her to pick out the things that she liked. Those had been some of her favorite days— wandering through a city with him on their day off after getting paid, patiently walking with her as she searched till she found a trinket or item of clothing she wanted.

She would have to do that without him now.

During the war, she’d made do with basic supplies and too many patches, but now, she would need to do more, and Byleth wasn’t sure how she liked the idea of doing that alone. Dorothea would be more than willing to help, but Byleth remembered how the quiet moments with her father had been sacred to her, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to invite someone else into it all now.

She could ask Hubert. The thought crossed her mind unexpectedly, and Byleth shook her head. Such a silly activity would likely be beneath him, but there was a chance that if she asked—

No, she would figure that out on her own.

Byleth paused in picking at the hole as she heard footsteps approaching, looking up as Hubert made his way down the hall, studying her as he did.

“I wanted to speak to you.” Byleth stated as he came closer.

Hubert unlocked the door, then gestured inward.

“Be my guest.”

Byleth stood, moving in, settling down in front of a desk she’d conversed with Hubert at before. She wasn’t one to start conversations unnecessarily, but this was important to her.

Hubert settled down across from her at the desk, stripping off his gloves as he did. Byleth was pleased to see that the ring she’d given him was still present, albeit on his smallest finger.

“Hubert,” Byleth began, “do you want me to touch you?”

Hubert coughed, then spoke. “I would assume such a desire would be inherent in a marriage proposal.”

Byleth reached across the desk, taking Hubert’s hand in hers. She watched him carefully as she did, taking note of the way he hesitated before tightening his grip on her hand.

“I want to touch you.” She said. “I want to know you.”

“I would like to know you better.” Hubert stated carefully.

“Will you let me?” Byleth asked.

Hubert was silent for a long moment, and Byleth waited.

“If that is what you want.” He replied evenly.

“I do.” Byleth said.

Hubert wasn’t the type to easily admit weakness or doubt, so Byleth would take this slow.

“May I have your hands?” Byleth asked.

Hubert hesitated, and she saw it, damn it, but he placed his hands in front of her, palms down on the desk. Byleth turned them over, slowly, studying his palms as she did. The dark magic he used had left its mark on them, the skin calloused and scarred, oddly discolored from the magic that he used so deftly.

Byleth traced over his hands with hers, looking up only when she saw his hands finally relax.

“They’re unsightly things.” Hubert said.

“They’re hands of someone who fought.” Byleth said.

“And what would you say of the rest of me?”

Byleth was silent, forming the words in her mind before she started.

“I think that you’re someone who I care about.”

“And if I let you see it all? What would you say then?”

“The same.” Byleth replied.

“I am not a handsome man.”

Byleth tilted her head to the side, looking to Hubert.

“I would disagree.” She stated, standing before walking to the other side of the desk to stand beside him, stopping before him.

“I did not think you would accept my proposal.” Hubert said, studiously avoiding her eyes.

A painful thought came to her mind.

“Did you not want me to?” Byleth hesitated, pausing in her edging forward.

“I did, and I do.” Hubert said, voice pained as he looked up to her. “I am not sure how to progress.”

“Can you tell me what is wrong?” Byleth asked.

“I do not know how to be touched.” Hubert’s voice was choked as he spoke. “I was never—”

“Start slow.” Byleth replied quietly. There was a vulnerability in what Hubert was showing her now that she hadn’t expected to see now, but with the distance he enforced in his relationships, it seemed logical that there would be casualties. “Try things. Learn what you like, and what you don’t.”

Hubert nodded, his head jerking like a puppet at a loss as to how to move.

“I would like to touch you.” Byleth said. “But if you don’t want that, I won’t force it.”

“I said I would keep you safe.” Hubert said. “But I fear that I am not prepared to be a lover.”

“Is there anywhere that you want to touch me?” Byleth asked.

Hubert’s hands twitched, and Byleth wondered if she’d happened on the right thing to say.

“Yes.” He replied. “I want to—” He broke off again.

“Where?” Byleth asked.

Hubert met her eyes, gaze searching. He raised his hand, slowly moving it to touch her cheek. Byleth held still as he hesitantly pressed his hand to her face, slowly roaming across her face, brushing her hair out of the way.

Byleth waited, letting Hubert explore, watching as he raised his other hand, brushing his thumb over her lips. She shuddered as he did, letting her eyes close as he hesitantly moved a hand downward, tracing it over the skin on her neck.

“I can take this off when you’re ready.” She muttered, placing a hand at her collar to tug at it. “When you want me to.”

Byleth wanted Hubert to touch her. As he moved slowly down, tracing the lines of her battered armor, she forced herself to breathe, waiting for him as she opened her eyes again.

“I doubt my father ever loved my mother.” Hubert spoke. “Their marriage was a thing of convenience.”

Byleth waited, listening as Hubert paused.

“I will not hurt youas he did her.” Hubert continued, placing his hands on her shoulders.

It was odd to think that she had a firmer foundation of ideas as to what to do here than he did. She’d never seen her father and mother interact, but Jeralt had at least tried to educate her about relationships, as much as she had cared little for any sort of romance before Sothis had awoken in her. Her foggy memories of what he’d told her were more than Hubert had ever been given.

Hubert placed his hands carefully on her shoulders.

“You won’t.” Byleth said firmly. She’d never been afraid of Hubert, even back when he’d truly threatened her when she’d started teaching at the academy.

(If she’d even been capable of fear back then was another matter entirely.)

Byleth reached out, moving to pull Hubert to his feet. He went willingly, keeping his hands on her shoulders as she pulled him to her.

“I trust you.” Byleth said. “In all things.”

“And I you.” Hubert replied.

Byleth released Hubert, unbuttoning her cape and slipping it off, tossing it to the chair that she’d left behind in font of his desk.

“We will sit.” Byleth said, pulling him carefully along with her. Byleth settled on the edge of the bed, patting the spot beside her.

Hubert paused for a moment, then began to unbuckle his cape, settling it down beside Byleth on the bed, then moving to unbutton his overshirt.

“May I help?” Byleth asked.

“If you’d like.”

Byleth stood again, slowly working her way down the buttons on the front, pausing at the belt to unbuckle before continuing downward, finishing with the last button before moving to tug it off of his shoulders.

“There.” She said, looking at the white shirt he wore underneath, adding to the growing pile of clothes on the bed.

Hubert carefully reached a hand out, tracing it along the curve of Byleth’s neck, slowly running it down her shoulder. His hand paused at a patched spot, a frown crossing his face as he leaned forward, examining the spot where she’d mended it.

“Do you not have the resources for new clothes? I’m aware that your taste has always been—” Hubert seemed to search for the right word, “—eclectic but there’s no need to wear worn things like this.”

Byleth frowned.

“This is the last of what I bought with my father.” She said.

Hubert raised his eyebrows slightly, then nodded. “I see. And those?” He gestured briefly at the patched tights, glancing at them for a moment before firmly bringing his eyes back up to Byleth’s face.

“All I have left from before.”

Hubert nodded, eyes distant for a moment.

“We can send for a tailor, if you’d like.” He focused on her again. “How you’ve managed to patch those, I can’t imagine.”

“Very carefully.” Byleth said. “No sense in wasting good clothes.”

“I’ll send for someone in the morning.” He said. “I imagine they could craft something similar to what you wore.”

“Thank you.” Byleth nodded. Perhaps she’d visit the markets again, in her own time, but this would do for now. She would save these things, but to have something that was the same would give her something to still remember her father with.

Byleth settled back down on the edge of the bed, and Hubert followed, sitting carefully beside her.

“Is there anywhere else that you wanted to touch?” Byleth asked.

“There are many places.” Hubert said, exhaling heavily.

Byleth slowly leaned her head on his arm. “Where else?”

She watched as his hand raised for a moment, then settled back down on his leg.

“I want this.” Byleth spoke softly

Hubert’s hand raised again, slowly moving to rest on her leg.

“I want you.” Hubert said. “Desperately.”

Byleth looked over and up to Hubert, placing her hand on his and slowly lifting it up to press the underside of her breast.

“Then touch me.” She whispered.

Hubert gave a shuddering breath, then looped his free hand under her legs, pulling her into his lap. His hands roamed carefully over her body, exploring her curves as she waited, letting her head rest on his chest as he did.

His hands were gentle, and after a moment of exploration, he spoke.

“You wanted to touch me.”

“I want to know all of you.” Byleth said simply.

Hubert shifted Byleth back to the bed beside him, unbuttoning his shirt with rapid hands. Byleth watched as he stripped it off, working off the remainder of her own outer layer as she sat. When he moved to his boots, she slipped her own off, mirroring his actions. She left her stockings on the ground beside her shoes, pulling her legs up onto the bed and moving to sit in the center of the bed, waiting as she carefully pulled off her tights. They’d made it this far, and she didn’t plan to lose them yet.

She pulled her shirt up and over head, feeling the bed shift as Hubert settled down at her side. Byleth tossed the shirt to where she’d left her shoes, looking to Hubert.

His hand was half raised, moving towards her, but he paused at her gaze.

“May I?” He asked

Byleth nodded, watching as he carefully ran his hand down the scar on her breastbone, carefully feeling the long healed scar that still showed there, hand drifting to caress her breasts. Byleth sighed as he did, letting her head loll forward before sliding closer to him.

He lingered there for a moment before taking her hands in his, pulling her down to the bed with him. Byleth went willingly, and as his hands began to rove more rapidly Byleth slipped her arms around him, pulling him close to her as he did.

**Author's Note:**

> title taken from normal people by joji


End file.
